In a recent interview at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh TV Festival, joost co-founder Janus Friis discussed future possibilities for his company’s Web TV service including charging users and introducing adult content.  He also tackled questions concerning the public’s perception that ISPs hate joost.

For those not familiar with joost, joost is a new way of watching TV on the Internet. With joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping…all within the cozy confines of the web.

Here are some interesting highlights from the interview with Janus Friis:

Friis said that Joost was “opening up” in a number of ways and that this flexibility meant that it “could add pay-per-view in the future” and would “not rule out” introducing potentially lucrative adult content “sometime in the future”. 

Later during the question and answer session, an audience member took Friis to task claiming that “ISPs hate joost” because of the added cost to deliver band-width sucking TV over ISP networks.  Friis’ response was that “people running ISPs” are in favor but those within the ISP world developing similar products don’t like it. “It is a schism within ISPs,” he argued.

The audience member followed up by asking if in order to balance the extra costs of delivering TV over ISP networks, whether joost would offer up a slice of its ad revenue to ISPs?

“We are not negotiating to give up revenue,” said Friis emphatically. “That is a slippery slope”.  Read.

The crew of a tug that sank off Port Alfred are counting their lucky stars.  When they were recently in the face of adversity, who was on hand to rescue them?  Non other than Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen…well at least his mega-yacht the Octopus, the world’s fourth largest and most luxurious private super-yacht used by the likes of Bill Gates was on hand to save seven of the lives on board.

Three others were saved by the National Sea Rescue Institute and one drowned.

The Octopus has a crew of 60 including a team of former Navy Seal security experts. She has two helicopters and seven boats on board, as well as a 10-man submarine and a remote controlled vehicle for crawling on the ocean floor. Read.

Today toy manufacturer Mattel issued its second product recall in two weeks. The toy giant sent a warning to consumers about some 9 million toys made in China, saying that in addition to containing lead paint…a select group of toys could also contain loose magnets which could pose a choking hazard to children.

Mattel CEO Robert A. Eckert defended the company’s Chinese operations, saying that despite the recent string of recalls, safety isn’t compromised in the company’s Chinese manufacturing plants. 

In an interview with “Good Morning America’s” Chris Cuomo, Eckert called the company’s testing standards “rigorous”, further defending Mattel’s decision to utilize cheap Chinese labor and manufacturing practices.

If safety isn’t compromised in the company’s Chinese plants, then why did the CEO of said plant commit suicide this week over the recalls?

We’ll follow this one closely to see if Eckert changes his tune if a rash of health problems start occurring in children who came into contact with his compay’s lead covered toys.  [Via ABCNews.com]

CEOSMACK has created a panorama of the most animated current and former CEOs.  Each CEO is pictured showing off some of their best poses.

Our list includes: 

Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Broadcast.com Founder & Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban, and current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.  We know that Mark Cuban is not technically a tech CEO, but he made his billions off the Internet so we included him in the group.

Help us decide which of these over the top, super-expressive CEOs should be crowned Most Animated Tech CEO. Happy Voting.

Dan Lyons Is The Name, Playing Fake Steve Jobs Was The Game. 

This past Sunday, the blogger calling himself “Fake Steve Jobs,” revealed himself as an editor of Forbes magazine.

Dan Lyons’ identity was finally revealed , after a New York Times reporter found resemblances between the Fake Steve Jobs Blog and Lyons’ published work.  When asked if he was behind the Blog, Lyons told the Times he had started the fake blog last year to poke fun at the lack of candidness he saw in the growing number of CEO blogs that were attracting media attention. (Although this is certainly not the case with Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban’s Blog or Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz’s Blog)

The LA Times reported that many corporations have discovered that putting their executives in front of a keyboard can generate positive buzz for the company. But if Chief Executives say or do the wrong thing on a blog it can become a public relations headache and possibly trigger litigation.

Although executives generally have far more latitude than their employees to discuss what goes on at their companies and in their respective industries, there are limits to what executives can and should say online.  As Fake Steve Jobs said, as a result of these limits, they are often less than candid when offering up a thought or opinion. 

Many companies have clamped down in recent years on blogging by workers, even firing disgruntled employees who have broadcast negative comments or revealed proprietary information.  Lyons’ posing as Fake Steve Jobs, allowed a high powered CEO to say exactly what he wanted to say, without actually saying it…sort of.

In a statement, Lyons said “I was hoping to stay anonymous for a while longer but on the other hand I knew I couldn’t stay anonymous forever. It had to happen at some point.” “I hope that it doesn’t ruin the fun of the blog that people know who’s behind it.

Lyons’ Blog has gained a loyal readership while keeping Silicon Valley laughing, interested, and intrigued with its candid analysis of business and technology trends.

Lyons often called Linux fans ”freetards” and he sometimes called journalists ”filthy hacks” before signing off with the Indian salutation “namaste.”  He also poked fun at Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs’ reputation for being what some consider a demanding, arrogant jerk.

We hope to see Lyons continue to Keep It Real!

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported today that its net income jumped nearly 33 percent during the second quarter because of strong performance from its insurance division. Berkshire said it earned $3.1 billion during the quarter that ended June 30. That’s up from $2.3 billion, or $1,522 per share, in the same period last year. Berkshire’s insurance business pulled in nearly $6 billion in premiums during the quarter, up from $5.8 billion a year ago.

Companies including Geico and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group recorded a $632 million underwriting profit during the quarter, up from $371 million in 2006.  And Geico had 381,000 more car insurance policies in force at the end of June than it did at the end of 2006. Plus the car insurance company’s cavemen commercial pitchmen inspired a sitcom on ABC this fall.

The underwriting profit also includes $356 million from the Reinsurance Group, up from $137 million last year.